Festival organisers warned
Expensive acts could lead to the death of small festivals. The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) – who help arrange Bestival and Creamfields – insist many headline artists demand too much money to appear on the bill of outdoor music events, driving ticket prices higher, sparking fears they will be undersold and ending up cancelled.
But co-founder of AIF, Ben Turner said: “Prices for talent increases and increases and increases every single year. I think it’s something that agents, managers and artists need to be more aware of, that these festivals that they supposedly love, they need to show some support for that. There comes a point where a promoter has to go, ‘Do you know what? I’m not going to pay that far’.”
Ben admitted to BBC 6 Music that some acts will charge up to £1 million for a performance and that organisers for big festivals need to stop spending so much or smaller festivals will have to close.
Last year, UK festival revenue was an estimated £130 million.
Despite AIF’s warning, performers insist they are worth the money as they will always attract big crowds.
Florence and the Machine star Florence Welch said: “Live I think is still where as an artist you can make decent money. There’s a real upsurge in people wanting to see live bands at the moment and people wanting to go to festivals. So promoters are willing to pay for bands to come because there’s a real demand for it, which is great.”